Automated teller machines (ATMs) are well-known in the prior art. Since their development in 1969, such machines have been utilized by banking institutions to perform various customer banking transactions, such as cash withdrawals, transfers, balance inquiries, deposits, payments, and other routine financial transactions. Typically, an ATM includes a customer interface which contains the unit's card handler, transaction display and keyboard, cash dispenser, depository and printer. In operation, a customer inserts an encoded magnetic stripe card into a card slot of the card handler to initiate a transaction. After the validity of the card is checked, the customer is prompted through the transaction display to select a transaction via the keyboard. The transaction display and keyboard thereafter guide the customer through one or more selected transactions. At the end of certain transactions; e.g., cash withdrawal, currency may be dispensed via the cash dispenser. Normally, a customer receipt describing the transaction is printed for the customer's permanent records.
In the early years of their development; i.e., 1969-1976, ATMs were only somewhat commercially successful although they provided a major advantage to customers--banking functions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During this time, the majority of ATM installations were made through-the-wall at a bank's main office, and were accessed by cardholding customers standing outside the office. However, this picture changed drastically around 1977 when ATMs became less expensive to manufacture and more reliable. About this time, financial institutions also realized that they could install machines remotely at a lesser expense than was required to build new branches. With the existence of remotely-located ATMs, customers were provided the added benefit of being able to perform banking functions at several locations throughout an area. Unsurprisingly, lines behind ATMs became as long or longer than those at the teller windows. Moreover, in recent years financial institutions have located ATMs at still more convenient customer locations, such as shopping malls and grocery stores.
Although ATM use has increased dramatically since the machines were first introduced in 1969, the basic terminal has remained remarkably unchanged. It is true that currently produced machines are less costly and more reliable than their predecessors due to technological advancements in the data processing and automation industries; however, it is also true that such machines still process transactions in the same manner as the first generation ATMs. Specifically, prior art ATMs have always operated their peripheral devices; i.e., the card handler, printer, depository, etc., in a sequential fashion. For example, when initiating a transaction, a customer is prompted to enter a personal identification number (PIN), which then needs to be verified for security reasons. During the time period that the ATM is communicating with a host device to validate the customer PIN, the main processing unit of the ATM is effectively "idle"; i.e., it is not processing any other task. As another example, to print a customer receipt following a cash withdrawal transaction, the main processing unit in the ATM sends a print command and associated print data to the printer mechanism. However, during the time that the printer is activated to print the data, the main processing unit is again put on "hold," waiting for an acknowledgement that the data has been printed. Further, it is only after the processor receives printing confirmation that it initiates control commands to the cash dispenser to effect the dispensing of currency to the customer.
This sequential processing of ATM input/output functions has reduced the efficiency of such machines by increasing overall customer transaction time. Moreover, with the increased availability and use of ATMs, lengthy transaction time is transformed into longer waiting lines for customers. These lines are of course a major concern for financial institutions and customers, many of whom utilize ATMs to avoid waiting at the teller windows. There is therefore a need to provide an improved ATM which has the capability of reducing customer transaction time.